Sitcoms

﻿14 October 2013
Sitcom Internet AssignmentSitcoms have essentially been around since the beginning of television in the 1940’s. One of the first sitcoms was “The Goldbergs,” which moved from radio to television in 1949 (Fordham Metz). This show was centered on a family living in the Bronx made up of Molly and Jake Goldberg and their two children. The Goldbergs were Jewish immigrants and dealt with the everyday family-related problems of the time. Molly was a good housewife and mother to her children. While sitcoms have been on a steady incline since the days of “The Goldbergs,” some critics say that in the past couple years the sitcom has been slowly killed off in the name of reality TV. According to Senior Writer for BuddyTV, John Kubicek, 2012-2013 is the year the sitcom died. He comments on the fact that while shows like “Modern Family” and “The Big Bang Theory” have experienced great success, many others have failed. Shows that have lasted years such as “The Office” and “30 Rock” have completed their final seasons and others are soon to follow. In the light of so many failures, networks are unlikely to order more (Kubicek).

People are no longer drawn to the scripted comedies. They are leaning more, now, towards the idea of the “real-life” comedies of reality TV. These shows give the viewer some nostalgia and a sense of believability that sitcoms do not allow. According t the Neilsen ratings, this change is slow but nonetheless visible. Most of the top watched shows are either reality TV shows, such as “Duck Dynasty” and “The Voice, or they are shows like “NCIS” and “The Walking Dead” (Nielsen). Shows like “The Voice” and “Dancing with the Stars” are a fast approaching genre of reality competition TV. These types of shows far outrank the sitcoms. Unfortunately, sitcoms are appearing to be on a downward spiral. They are being taken over by reality TV shows and competition shows. Maybe the writers need to change their themes, or maybe we, the audience,...

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In order to distinguish what is meant by the term ‘gender’, it is important to initially define at a basic level what gender embodies in its meaning. So, when referring to gender, we refer to masculinity and femininity which is culturally determined. People do however confuse gender with ‘sex’ as sex is biologically determined (male/female) which can also be considered ‘fixed’ as opposed to the flexibility of gender.
Biology need not be assumed to determine gender. This is to suggest that, while what makes a person male or female is universal and grounded in laws of nature, the precise ways in which women express their femininity and men express their masculinity will vary from culture to culture.
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Although the primary purpose of sitcoms is to entertain, the messages can teach harmful lessons about how romantic couples should handle conflict. (Galician) As viewers watch sitcom couples engage in conflict, it would seem easy to dismiss the argument that sitcoms, given their frivolous nature, can influence viewers’ expectations of romantic relationships. (Galician) Humor often stems from conflict in sitcoms...

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-The Royle Family which is a British television sitcom produced by Granada Productions for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000.
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